The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1887-04-07
RUSSIAN TEA GARDENS.

The Oriental domes 6nd mosque like
pinnacles of Odessa suggest CONSTANT
nople or Bagdad, and the filthy beggars
who lounge within the court yards of
the sacred edihees make the illusion dis
gustiagly real. 1t is in the great wheat
market city, called 1.-THE Chicago of Rus
sia," that the stranger gets his first
glimpse of Eastern life. The stately
public buildings, the bazar-like shop
windows, the aoiect appearance of the
beggars, the ferociGy of the heas, and
the infinite number of dogs are more
real than the arabian Nights to an i'm
aginative mind. The summer nights
are cool, but during the day the sun
floods the earth with its scorchipg rays.
The evenings are usually spent at the
tea gardens, which are feature OF all
Russian towns. They are like the large
beer-gardens of Germany, only tea is
drunk instead of beer. 1t is called
"chdi" pronounced "chi'), and served
in Bohemian cut glass ''tumbiers, with
Jumps of loaf-sugar and slices of lemon.
Chat is the universal drink, and the
samovar in which it is made is a symbol
of Russian hospitality. This curious
teapot is a brass or copper vessel, shap-
ed not unlike al urn. The ordinary
household samovar is from one to two
feet high. and ten inches in diameter,
polished in the highest style OF art. ii
is So ingeniously constructed that, with
a hot charcoal fire burning in its little
furnace, it may stand on table for
hours without scorching the cloth.
Some of the very expensive samovaFs
are as large as barrel and as high as a
man's head, but are all made on the
same principle; that IS, a straight pipe
or fiue runs PRECAUTIONARY through the
centre Of tie vessel, which IS filled with
water The fine projects at the top Of
the samovar like little round chimney.
Wbrn the charcoal il we'll kindled. ana
he water bolls, few spopnful!s of block
tea are pat in a small china teapot, which
is filed with hot water drawn from the
faucet of the samovar. The teapot IL
set over the chimney, IN which a series
# holes inst below it's month prevents
stoppage of the draught. When the tea
is thr0uchly "steeped" and the liquid
very dark, a little is poured into the
guests glass, which is tnen filed with
boiling water from the samovar. There
Is a saying in Russia that hospitality
never ceases while there is water in the
samovar The water in teapot is never
allowed to boil, and only the best tee
that host can afford is used. 1t costs
all the way from one TO thirty dollars a
pound, and merchants make a business
of bringing it overland across the deserts
from China by expensive tea caravans
II is generally believed in Russia that a
sea voyage destroys the peculiar flavor
of the chat The best quaility-such SIS
is used for the imperial tablets trans
ported in leather bags enclosed IL cara
fully sealed cases to prevent contact with
the atmosphere. This kind OF tea IS
worth from thirty to forty dollars a
pound. V8rious grades of Russian tea
are sold in Paris, where also samOvars Of
beautiful designs can be purchased for
twenty or thirty dollars apiece. The
The ordinary tea of Russia is far superior
to any tea drunk in this country or ID
England; in fact It's delicious flavor is
unknown, and cannot be initiated by the
most skilful preparation of English ten.
Crystallized white sugar is used by the
Russian tea drinkers, and slice Of le-
mon gives the liquid an exquisite flavor,
but cream or milk is never seen on tea
table. Wealthy people often use jellies.
From six to twenty glasses of chat are
often drunk by a single person at sit
ting, and at private parties the guests
remain until very late. In the tea gar
dens band of musicians play regular pro-
grammes during the evenings, while the
fashionable ladies and gentlemen of the
city drink tea and discuss the gossip of
the honr. RALPH MEEKER, in HGrper's
Magazine for april.